GMG - Las Vegas Weekly

September 12, 2013

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 10 of 64

AS WE SEE IT…
NORTH LAS VEGAS
DINING, SUMMED UP
IN ONE TEXTIFESTO
I shouldn't care what a real estate blog says
about food, but Movoto's post about America's
"least appetizing cities" ranked North Las Vegas
No. 3 overall and the worst for restaurants per
capita (1 for every 808 residents). The list was
based on dining options rather than quality, but
I was still compelled to defend North Las Vegas.
Not that I've ever eaten there …
So, I texted Weekly foodists Brock Radke
and Jim Begley for advice. Edited for length,
here's what they said:
> DOWNTOWN ALLIANCE
Blackbird Studios owner
Gina Quaranto will open
a satellite gallery in the
Container Park this fall.
Erin Ryan: HELP. Need North Las
Vegas restaurants that don't suck.
Never eaten over there. All I have so
far is Los Molcajetes.
BRIDGING THE GAP
GINA QUARANTO BY CHRISTOPHER DEVARGAS; ELLA EM'S SOUL FOOD BY BEVERLY POPPE; BLO HOOKAH BY MIKE WELLER
Downtown Project invites one of its critics to open a Container Park gallery
The chasm between Downtown Project and some
of the Downtown community (that believes it has
been steamrolled by DTP) has not exactly been a
secret around town. So with DTP's Container Park set
to open this fall, team members made a grand gesture
and reached out to an Arts District linchpin—who
happened to be a fairly vocal critic of Zappos and DTP.
And Gina Quaranto said yes. The owner of Blackbird
Studios on Main Street has agreed to launch a satellite
gallery in the Container Park, opening this fall, where
she will help organize art education programs in its
neighboring Learning Center and work as a liaison
between Downtown Project and the community.
"The general consensus down here is that Zappos
came to town saying they're going to build a community, bypassing the community that's already here,"
Quaranto says, adding that she knows critics, including her own friends, will feast on her decision and call
her a "turncoat." "But how can we change anything
from the outside? If they're willing to bridge the gap,
how could I say no?" Quaranto says. "Our huge complaint has been that they're alienating the locals who
were already here. If we bring a little bit of this over
there, it's better for all of us."
Jamie Naughton, Zappos' speaker of the house who
works with Downtown Project, says reaching out to
Quaranto is one of many steps DTP is taking to involve
the community as much as possible. "She's community focused and well-known Downtown and can help
us reach out." –Kristen Peterson
For more of this story, go to lasvegasweekly.com.
A LOUNGE OF THEIR OWN
Blo Hookah Bar offers a venue for
the lesbian community
If there's one thing Vegas can't get enough of, it's more inclusive
spaces for LGBT folks. In the past few years, gay-themed events
inside swanky nightclubs have become the status quo, and
establishments like Bronze Café have drawn wide acclaim, but
¶ So when the lesbian-owned LGBT hookah
bar, Blo, opened this past weekend during Pride, we wanted to know what the new spot had to offer. ¶ "There's
publicly lesbian-run establishments have been mostly non-existent.
really no place for [lesbian] women in Las Vegas," says general manager and co-owner Kris Grajeda, who also
spearheaded Cream Vegas, an event production group specializing in lesbian nightlife. "There are events
Jim Begley: Taqueria El Palenque,
Rubalcaba's Taco Shop and La
Hacienda, to start.
Brock Radke: Those are holes.
JB: They are. Last time I checked
they're also restaurants.
BR: Right, but she needs heavier
ammo. … Important to note that NLV
has the same small-town franchise
restos as any other city with pop
200K. But still a quick freeway trip
to Strip.
JB: Really? And Molcajetes not a hole?
BR: Jim: Shh. Erin: MRKT at Aliante,
Austins at Texas Station, Waverly's at
Cannery—all solid steakhouses.
JB: I would pick my restaurants over
yours any day.
BR: Shh. Also Ella Em's Soul Food.
Poke Express. I will agree with Jim on
the point he's failing to make clearly:
Some of the best cheap Mexican food
is in NLV.
JB: Brock is dead to me.
BR: Ha! Viva Zapatas. Thai Basil. Prime
rib and chocolate éclairs at Jerry's
Nugget. Iconic.
at male-owned venues, but we don't have our own place." ¶ That's changing. Grajeda is quick to add she
wants all of the LGBT crowd to feel welcome at Blo, which will also host gay and 18-and-older evenings in
the future (Blo is 18-plus before 10 p.m.). The lounge has a feminine touch, but not stereotypically so, and
guests can catch anything from the BBC lesbian series Lip Service to RuPaul's Drag Race to a football game on
one of the many flat-screen TVs. Its menu—full of "Cocks," "Hooks" and "Licks" (that's cocktails, hookah and
food)—features cheeky tobacco flavors like "Fruity Booty"
and "Twerk It." Tobacco not your thing? With an Internet café,
oxygen bar and open mic nights in the works, Blo will offer
much more than smoky entertainment –Leslie Ventura
entertainment.
BLO HOOKAH BAR 1725 E. Warm Springs #16,
772-0689. Sunday, Wednesday & Thursday, 6
p.m.-midnight; Friday & Saturday, 6 p.m.-3 a.m.
SEPTEMBER 12–18, 2013 LASVEGASWEEKLY.COM
11_AWSI_2_20130912.indd 11
11
9/11/13 2:28 PM